Desolate
by xAshleyxElricx
Summary: In the mist of war, Ed and Al must not only fight for their country, but for their lives as well. But even when it seemed that that was the worst of their problems, a deadly rival rises.  Was he the cause of this war? Or is he involved in something deeper
1. A Situation At Hand

_**A Situation at Hand**_

Soft rays of golden light spilled into the small, homely room, illuminating the furniture with brilliance. A young, blond-haired teenager slept in a beam of the light, peacefully, as if there was no worry in the world. In the opposite room was his brother, cleaning up the dishes left over from their previous meal. Looking into the other room, he glanced at his brother's sleeping face. Alphonse sighed slightly and continued his work.

The silence and peacefulness was soon interrupted by a loud ring of the telephone.

"GAH!" Alphonse jumped and dropped the plates he was holding at the sound. He shakily picked up the phone and answered. "H-hello?"

A familiar voice was on the other end. "Hello, Alphonse." It was Colonel Mustang from Central Headquarters. "It's Roy. Is Fullmetal there?"

Alphonse laughed slightly. "Yes," he replied, "but he's asleep. Hold on, I'll wake him."

Suddenly, Edward's eyes snapped open and he spun around on the couch to face Al. "TELL HIM I'M NOT HERE!" Edward yelled as he thrust the lightweight blanket back over himself.

Al leaned over to look through the doorway so he could make eye contact with Ed. "But, Brother, it's the Colonel, you gotta talk to him." Edward began to mumble under his breath as if to say something he didn't want his brother to hear. "I'm also pretty sure he can hear you, Brother." Al stated. There was no doubt that Roy was listening to this entire conversation. "Just please come and take the phone!"

"Fine." Edward slowly got up off the couch and dragged himself toward the phone. "Hello?" he grunted.

Edward and the Colonel began to talk. Alphonse tried to interpret the conversation, but he had no luck doing so.

"WHY WOULD I DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!" Ed roared, apparently irritated with the Colonel. Al leapt back.

_What can they possibly be talking about?_ he asked himself.

"Remind me again why I have to do this?" Ed asked, continuing the conversation as Al was still trying to figure out what was going on. "ERRRRRRRR FINE!" Edward yelled as he slammed down the phone in frustration.

"What happened?" Al asked curiously.

"Colonel Jackass wants us to go to a meeting at a local restaurant," Ed mumbled, making his way back to the couch.

"Really?" Al exclaimed. "When?"

"Tonight," Ed moaned as he turned on his side.

"Okay, then we better get ready, Brother!"

"Yeah, whatever," Edward mumbled, obviously trying to get back to sleep.

"Seriously, Brother, we gotta get ready!"

Edward pulled the blanket over his head and faintly started coughing, though it was totally obvious that he was faking. "Oh no, I'm sick," he pretended. "I guess I'll have to miss the meeting, oh what a shame."

"Brother," Al sighed, "now you're just being a coward."

"Fine, I'll go," Ed grumbled as he cursed up the stairs. Al just sighed and soon followed to get dressed himself.

Al came down the stairs wearing his standard black jacket and black pants. He called to his brother as he put his red coat on. "You ready yet?"

"No," Edward shouted from his room.

"Hurry up!"

A good fifteen minutes went by before Alphonse got a little frustrated. "Brother, get down here!"

Edward sulked down the stairs wearing his usual brown pants, brown vest, white blouse, and brown coat.

"You can't avoid things like this," Al said, looking concerned.

"Watch me." Edward began to turn around and dash back up the stairs when Al grabbed his coat collar and dragged him out the door.

"So where are we going?" Al asked, still dragging Ed along.

"Stonebridge," Ed grunted. "It's not too far from here."

"Stonebridge? I know where that is," Al reassured. He continued to walk along, dragging Edward by his side.

"I HAVE LEGS YOU KNOW!" Ed burst out. He wasn't exactly crazy about the idea of being dragged along the sidewalk.

"But I want to make sure you don't run away." Al was almost certain the Ed would run for it once he let go.

"I wont, Al, just trust me."

Alphonse knew he couldn't do this forever, so he sighed and let go of his brother's coat. The second Ed was free, he darted in the other direction, hoping to avoid seeing the colonel's smug face.

"BROTHER!" Al quickly clapped his hands and transmuted a cage around Edward to stop him in his tracks. He ran over and grabbed Ed's coat while he was still caught.

"AL!" Edward yelled as his brother de-transmuted the cage.

"Now I _know_ I can trust you." Al stated sarcastically as he, once again, started dragging Ed down the sidewalk.

"LET ME GO, AL!" Ed struggled.

"NO!" Al responded. "You'll just run off again!"

Alphonse continued to drag his older brother down the street. Eventually, he turned a corner, and Stonebridge came into view.

"See?" Al turned to look at Ed. "We're already here."

Al dragged Ed inside the roomy restaurant. Scanning the room, he spotted Roy and Riza at a booth nearby. He made his way over, dragging Edward along and sitting him in the seat next to him.

"So, why am I here again?" Ed asked while raising an eyebrow.

"So you can discuss a certain matter with me," Roy said as he folded his hands on the table.

Ed sighed and slouched in his seat. "What do you consider important?"

"What's going on?" Al asked, apparently confused.

Roy turned to Al and looked at him sternly.

"Something has come up."


	2. A Soldier’s Despair

_** A Soldier's Despair **_

"Something has come up."

Al blinked and looked up. "What?"

All was quiet for a brief moment. Roy calmly folded his fingers together and began to speak.

"War to be exact," he said, his eyes gearing toward Alphonse. "We're going to war with Drachma."

Alphonse's eyes widened. "You're not --" Al trembled and began again, "you're not going to send us off to war, are you?"

Mustang sighed. "Not you, Alphonse."

Al took a sharp intake of breath, mood quickly changing as he realized what Roy was saying. "So -- so you're telling me you're going to ship Ed off to war while I stay here and wait? Just wait for him to come back…or to hear of his death?"

Roy looked sternly at Alphonse. "We already told you that, as a state alchemist, when war comes around, he might be called onto the battlefield at any given time or moment."

"And I am aware of that," Al said, voice slowly rising, "but what I don't agree with is not being able to come along! I won't leave my brother alone in that kind of situation!"

Edward finally spoke. "Al," he said, folding his arms, "you forget, I'm still hooked to the military's leash. I have to bark on command like a good dog of the military."

Tears started to form in Alphonse's eyes. "M-maybe you can't help but be dragged along, but I wanna go too! I _won't_ leave you alone out there!"

"It's not up to me, Al," Edward replied, looking down. "It's up to the big-wigs."

"Then ask them! Ask them if I can come along!" Al exclaimed, turning to Roy.

"I'll see what I can do," Roy replied sternly, "but I can't make any promises."

"I --" The tears in Al's eyes started to flow down. "I don't care if they approve or not! I'm never staying behind!"

Roy sighed as he stood up. "Like I said, I can't make any promises."

Al clenched his fists and looked down at the table, tears still flowing down his cheeks. Roy turned to Ed, his face stressed, yet sincere at the same time. "We haven't officially started war yet. You will be called when we need you."

With those words, Roy left, Riza following in his wake.

"B-brother…" Al managed to choke out before slowly sitting back down in the booth.

"I don't care what the military's answer is," Ed said, looking down and avoiding eye contact with Al. "You're not coming with me."

"Brother, please!" Al pleaded, "I can't... I won't leave you alone out there!"

"No, Al."

Al dropped his hands to his knees, clenching his fists. Tears continued to pour down his cheeks.

"I can't… let you go alone," Al let out before suddenly turning to face his brother. "Please, Brother, you can't just leave me behind!"

Ed continued to look down, refusing to look Al in the eyes.

"I… I just can't lose you again."

More tears ran down Al's cheeks. "And I can't lose _you_ again!"

Edward stood up suddenly and grabbed his coat. "Come on, Al," he said wearily as he slipped it on.

Alphonse, still trying to hold back tears, shakily nodded and headed out behind his brother. Neither of them made eye contact with each other.


	3. Unexpressed Anxiety

Chapter 3

_** Unexpressed Anxiety **_

When the brothers got home, neither of them spoke. Edward had collapsed on the couch and Alphonse had taken a seat in a chair nearby. Both of them were surrounded by thoughts that they kept to themselves, and only themselves. Alphonse was silently sobbing with his legs pulled up to his chest while Ed slouched with his arms folded across his torso.

"Al-…" Ed started to say, but then decided against it and looked away.

"Brother…" Al looked up wearily, wanting to know what his brother had on his mind.

"Yeah…?" Edward said, deciding not to look up.

"Did… Did you want to say something…?"

"No… it was nothing."

A loud _ring_ of the telephone interrupted the morose silence. Alphonse jumped.

"I… can you answer it, brother?"

Edward sighed as he slowly got up off the couch. "Yeah, fine…."

He sluggishly made his way over to the kitchen a picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey, Ed!"

It was Winry, their childhood friend. She was like a sister to them.

"Oh… hey, Winry…"

Alphonse looked over at Ed, realizing who was on the other line. "Winry?"

"So, um, Ed?" Winry sounded more cheerful then ever.

"Eh?" Ed replied, knowing she wanted to something.

"Well, I have some free time tomorrow and I was wondering if I could drop by for a quick visit?"

"Um… I don't think that's a very good idea," Edward said, trying to avoid telling her about the meeting between himself and Mustang.

"Oh come on, Ed!" Winry exclaimed. She was anxious to see the boys again. "I'll take the 11:30 train, ok? See ya tomorrow!"

"Wait Win-" He tried to say before he got the dial tone. He sighed and hung up the phone. "Great… this is just perfect," he whispered sarcastically.

"What happened…?" Al asked curiously.

Edward walked back over to the couch, sat down, and made eye contact with Al for the first time since they had gotten home. "Winry's coming into town tomorrow…"

"Oh really? It'd be nice to see her again." Alphonse tried to act a little more cheerful. "Any particular reason why?"

"No, not really," Edward said as he laid back on the couch, hands behind his head. "She just said she has some free time tomorrow so she wanted to drop by."

"Oh…"

Ed turned over on his stomach and let his head crash on the pillow. "How am I gunna tell her…"

Al buried his face in his hands trying to hold back more tears. "How can you tell _anyone_…?"

A strong silence filled the room again. After ten minutes, Al was the first one to speak up.

"Are you sure I can't… come with you?" He asked, turning his head to glance down at Ed. "I mean, surely you have to understand… how hard the thought is…"

"Drop it, Al," Ed said as he rolled over on his side so that his back was facing Al.

Al sighed. "Ed…"

"Hm?"

Al hid his face in his arms again. "Never mind…"

The next morning, Al woke up to the warm sun shining on his face. The birds outside were chirping slightly as he sat up and squinted in his comfortable bed. He looked out his bedroom window to see that the morning dew was still fresh on the grass. The skies were clear, a sign that the rest of the day was going to be bright and clear.

Al walked down the stairs to find that Ed was already up and was eating breakfast – definitely a rare sight for _any_ morning.

"Brother," Al said sleepily as he rubbed his eyes, "what are you doing up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep…" Ed replied as he consumed a mouthful of cereal.

Alphonse slowly walked over to the table and the seat across from his brother. Both of them were sitting in an unbearable silence before Al spoke up.

"A-are you OK, Brother…?"

"Yeah…" Ed said as he spun his cereal around with his spoon. "… What about you…?"

"I'm OK…"

Alphonse looked at his watch to check the time. Winry's train was getting in at noon. …It was now eleven.

"Hey, um, Brother? I really think we should get going."

Without a word, Ed nodded and rose from the table. He trudged upstairs to get dressed.

After an hour they arrived at the train station, the skies a bit cloudier than that morning. Alphonse was trying to look cheerful while Ed just had his hands in his pockets. They maneuvered their way through the crowd, trying to look for any traces of Winry.

"Was there any particular place where we were supposed to meet her?" Al asked, trying to look over the mass of people.

"No…" Edward said while looking for Winry as well. "She didn't mention..."

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind.

"Ed! Al!"

"Winry!" the two shouted in unison as they spun around.

"S-so, how was your trip?" Al stammered, putting on a fake smile.

"Long, but I got here alright!" Winry exclaimed. "Come on, lets get out of here, its too crowded."

"Yeah," Al agreed as the three of them started heading toward the car.

"Hey, are you two alright?" Winry questioned, apparently noticing their moods.

"Uh, yeah," Ed spoke up, "why'd you ask?"

Winry gave him a worried look. "It just seems like you have something on your mind, that's all."

"Well…" he started to say as he opened the car door, but then he quickly decided against it.

The three of them trudged into the cozy house. Winry stretched in the doorway as Ed and Al began hanging up their coats.

"Ah, it's a nice place you got here," she said with a smile. "Glad to see you're finally out of the dorms!"

Al laughed and began tidying up. "Yeah, we had the money and brother is old enough now."

"Hey Winry," Ed butted in, "if you want we can take your things to the guest bedroom upstairs."

"Okay!" she replied cheerfully. She grabbed her luggage and followed Ed up the stairs.

As Al was tidying up, the phone suddenly rang. "I'll get it!" he cried. Sprinting to catch it before the call was missed, he pressed the receiver to the side of his face and said, "Hello, Elric residence!"

"Hello Alphonse, is Edward there?"

It was 1st Lt. Riza Hawkeye.

"Oh, uh, hold on." Al covered the receiver as he called to Ed, "Brother, it's for you!"

Edward came over and Alphonse handed him the phone. "Hello?" he said.

"Hello, Edward. Its Riza."

"Oh, hi."

"The Colonel needs to meet with you at his office."

"…Again?"

"Yes. It vital that you get here as soon as possible."

"Alright. I'll be there right away." With a sigh, Ed hung up the phone and started putting his coat on.

"B-brother, what's going on?" Al asked with a tint of worry in his voice.

"They're having another meeting back at HQ, I'll back later."

Ed stared heading out the door before Al jogged after him. "Should I come along?" he asked

"No, don't worry, I won't be long. You stay here with Winry," he said as he rushed outside.

"Wai-" Al started to say as Ed ran out the door, but it was already too late. He sighed and went back to sit on the couch.

Winry finally finished unpacking and came down stairs.

"Where's Ed?" She asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"Oh," Al looked up to meet her eyes. "Sorry, Winry, but Brother had some military business to take care of, I think."

Winry blinked. "Did he mention what it was?"

"I dunno," he replied, sitting down. "Some kind of meeting."

About 1 hour later, Ed returned. He hung up his coat and noticed Al and Winry sitting on the couch.

"Hey, Brother!" Al jumped up happily. "How was… it?"

Edward sighed. "I'll… tell you later…"

"So where'd you have to go to anyway?" Winry asked, butting in.

"Um…" Ed stammered, trying to think of the right words. "To… a meeting… thing…"

Winry cocked her head. "Being secretive huh? As always…" She sighed, but then shrugged it off.

After several minutes of not talking, Ed broke the silence.

"Um… Al…? Can I talk to you for a sec…?" he asked, heading towards Al's bedroom.

Al paused, but followed. "Just hold on a second, Winry…" he said as he walked to his room.

She sighed. "Just don't take too long."

Al took a seat on the bed as Ed closed the door, making sure Winry wasn't listening. He sighed and sat next to his brother. "Al… I don't care what the Fuhrer says, but you're not coming…"

"Brother, please!" Al pressed desperately, "I… I just can't let you march out there and get yourself killed!"

"Al, listen to me…" Ed said sternly, "I will not let you go out on the battlefield with me, however, I talked to the Colonel and he said there was an extra clinic spot available…"

Al blinked, taken aback. "Wait… are you saying… I can go as a doctor?"

"It's either that, or stay here." Ed looked down. "I don't want to lose you…"

"I don't want to lose you either." Al clenched his fists. "I-I just hope you can understand why I want to come along brother."

"I do… I just didn't want you anywhere where you could get hurt…"

"I guess I'll come," Al said, looking at his feet. "As long as it means I can be with you…"

Ed was about to say something before they were both interrupted by the sound of the bedroom door opening. They both looked up to see Winry standing there.

"W-what are you guys talking about…?


End file.
